Lahti
—  City  —
Lahden kaupunki
Coat of arms
Location of Lahti in Finland
Coordinates: 60°59′N 025°39′E / 60.983°N 25.65°E / 60.983; 25.65Coordinates: 60°59′N 025°39′E / 60.983°N 25.65°E / 60.983; 25.65
Country	Finland
Region	Päijänne Tavastia
Sub-region	Lahti sub-region
Charter	1905-11-01
Government
• City manager	Jyrki Myllyvirta
Area(2011-01-01)[1]
• Total	154.58 km2 (59.68 sq mi)
• Land	135.05 km2 (52.14 sq mi)
• Water	19.53 km2 (7.54 sq mi)
Area rank	318th largest in Finland
Population (2012-01-31)[2]
• Total	102,358
• Rank	8th largest in Finland
• Density	757.93/km2 (1,963.0/sq mi)
Population by native language[3]
• Finnish	95.7% (official)
• Swedish	0.3%
• Others	4%
Population by age[4]
• 0 to 14	14.7%
• 15 to 64	67.2%
• 65 or older	18.1%
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Municipal tax rate[5]	19.5%
Website	www.lahti.fi

Lahti (Swedish: Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland.

Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about 100 kilometres (60 mi) north-east of the capital Helsinki. In English, the Finnish word Lahti literally means bay and Vesijärvi means water lake.

The symbol of the city depicts a train wheel surrounded by sparkling flames.

History [link]

Lahti was first mentioned in documents in 1445. The village belonged to the parish of Hollola and was located at the medieval trade route of Ylinen Viipurintie, which linked the towns of Hämeenlinna and Vyborg.

Lahti town plan from 1878 by Alfred Caween.

A map of Lahti made by Nils Westermark in 1750-1752.

The completion of the Riihimäki – St. Petersburg railway line in 1870 and the Vesijärvi canal in 1871 turned Lahti into a lively station, and industrial installations began to spring up around it. For a long time, the railway station at Vesijärvi Harbour was the second busiest station in Finland. Craftsmen, merchants, a few civil servants and a lot of industrial workers soon mixed in with the existing agricultural peasantry.

On 19 June 1877, almost the entire village was burned to the ground. However, the accident proved to be a stroke of luck for the development of the place, as it led to the authorities resuming their deliberations about establishing a town in Lahti. The village was granted market town rights in 1878 and an empire-style, grid town plan was approved, which included a large market square and wide boulevards. This grid plan still forms the basis of the city center. Most of the buildings were low wooden houses bordering the streets.

Lahti was founded during a period of severe economic recession. The Russian Empire was encumbered by the war against Turkey. The recession also slowed down the building of the township: land would not sell and often plots were not built on for some time. In its early years, the town with its meagre 200 inhabitants was too small to provide any kind of foundation for trade. At the end of the 1890s, Lahti’s Township Board increased its efforts to enable Lahti to be turned into a city. In spring 1904, the efforts finally bore fruit as the Senate approved of the application, although it was another eighteen months before Tsar Nicholas II finally gave his blessing and issued an ordinance for establishing the city of Lahti.

At the end of 1905, the area that now comprises Lahti accommodated around 8,200 people of whom just under 3,000 lived in the city itself. All essential municipal institutions were built in just ten years, including a hospital and a city hall. At the same time, a rapid increase in brick houses was taking place in the centre of the city.

In the early 1920s the city gained possession of the grounds of the Lahti Manor, an important piece of land previously blocking the city from the lake. Large-scale industrial operations grew rapidly in the 1930s as did the population; Lahti, at the time, was one of Finland’s fastest-growing cities, and before the start of the Winter War its population was approaching 30,000.

The city center of Lahti

Through the addition of new areas in 1924, 1933 and 1956, Lahti grew, both in terms of population and surface area. Especially strong was the growth after the wars, when Lahti accepted about 10,000 immigrants from Karelia, after the region was surrendered to the Soviet Union, and then later in the 1960 and 70's as a result of mass urbanization. The population growth came to a sharp end in 1975 and the city has since grown very little.

Culture [link]

Sibelius Hall

Lahti harbors cultural ambitions, and recent years saw the building of a large congress and concert center, the Sibelius Hall. This has sparked much controversy amongst the population, many of whom feel that the money used for these purposes would be better spent on health care and education. Lahti has one of Finland's most widely known symphony orchestras, the Lahti Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonia Lahti), which performs both classical and popular music, notably concentrating on music by Jean Sibelius.

Lahti’s annual music festival programme includes such events as Lahti Organ Festival, Jazz at the market place and Sibelius Festival.

Sports [link]

Lahti Sports Center – Ski jumps

Lahti Sports Center – Stadium

Lahti is best known for its annually held World Cup winter games, the Lahti Ski Games (Salpausselän kisat). Ski jumping events of Lahti Ski Games are part of the Nordic Tournament.

For the 1952 Summer Olympics, it hosted some of the football preliminaries.

The city endeavors for achievements in sport, which has led to such things as the hosting of a World Games event. As of 2010, it is the only city to host the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships six times, doing so in 1926, 1938, 1958, 1978, 1989, and 2001.

The city also has an ice hockey team, the Lahden Pelicans, an Association Football (soccer) club, FC Lahti, and a basketball team Namika Lahti. In July-August 2009, Lahti hosted the 18th World Masters Athletics Championships, an outdoor age-group track meet for men and women 35 and over.

Education [link]

Lahden Yhteiskoulu from 1896

Lahti Folk High School

Lahti's greatest educational asset is the highly valued Institute of Design, which is a part of Lahti University of Applied Sciences. The institute has gained international recognition in particular for jewelry and industrial design. Other areas of expertise include metal, woodworking and furniture.

The Faculty of Physical Activity at Lahti University of Applied Sciences offers a bachelor's degree programme in Sports Studies. The Sports Institute of Finland, which is based in Vierumäki near Lahti, is the most versatile centre of sports education in the country. In addition, Pajulahti Training Center, located in the neighboring town of Nastola, is one the leading sports and training centres in Finland.

Lahti is also the home of Helsinki University's department of Environmental and Ecological Sciences (Faculty of Biosciences). It's the only science department of the University of Helsinki located outside the greater Helsinki area.

Economy [link]

The economic region of Lahti, which includes the surrounding municipalities, was strongly affected by the collapse of Finnish-Soviet trade and by the recession in the early 1990s.

The value of production slumped, especially in the mechanical engineering industry and other manufacturing industries (e.g. the furniture industry). Production also decreased in the textile and clothing industry. In 1990, there were 90,370 jobs in the Lahti Region. The number of jobs diminished over the next couple of years, so that in 1993 there were fewer than 70,000 jobs in the Lahti Region. The number of jobs had slowly increased to 79,138 in 1999.

In 1995, R&D expenditure was FIM 715 per person, while Finland's average was about FIM 2050. The amount of Tekes (the National Technology Agency) funding in the Lahti Region grew 40% during 2004-2007 while the average growth in Finland was 60%.

Demographics [link]

As of 31 January 2012 Lahti’s population was 102 358, making it the eighth largest city in Finland by population.

Transportation [link]

Railway station, built 1935 by architect Thure Hellström.

Lahti has a railway station on the Helsinki–Kontiomäki line, between Mäntsälä and Kouvola; before 2006, connections to Helsinki went via Riihimäki. The shortened railway connection is expected to boost the growth of Lahti.

Coach station, built 1939 - architect Kaarlo Könönen

Local buses leave from the market square. Bus stops are on both the Aleksanterinkatu side and the Vapaudenkatu side of the square. See also the Local traffic Trip Planner for Lahti.

Road [link]

Distance by road (km)

• Helsinki 104
• Helsinki-Vantaa Airport 99
• Tampere 126
• Turku 213
• Jyväskylä 167
• Lappeenranta 148
• Kouvola 62
• Hämeenlinna 73
• Oulu 505
• Saint Petersburg 356

Trivia [link]

The asteroid 1498 Lahti was named after the city by its discoverer, the Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä.

Born in Lahti [link]

• Göran Enckelman, football player
• Pasi Nurminen, former NHL goaltender
• Toni Lydman, Ice hockey Player
• Toni Nieminen, ski jumper
• Janne Ahonen, ski jumper
• Mikko Ilonen, professional golfer
• Jari Litmanen, football player
• Aksu Hanttu, Drummer for the band Entwine
• Ilona Jokinen, soprano opera singer
• Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor and violinist
• Eija-Riitta Korhola, politician
• Jimi Tenor, musician
• Timo Väänänen, musician, member of the band Loituma

See also: Category:People from Lahti

International relations [link]

Twin towns — sister cities [link]

Lahti is twinned with:

• Västerås, Sweden (since 1940)
• Akureyri, Iceland (since 1947)
• Randers, Denmark (since 1947)
• Ålesund, Norway (since 1947)
• Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine (since 1953)
• Pécs, Hungary (since 1956)
• Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (since 1987)
• Suhl, Germany (since 1988)
• Kaluga, Russia (since 1994)
• Narva, Estonia (since 1994, partnership agreement)
• Deyang, China (since 2000)
• Most, Czech Republic

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lahti

• 1952 Summer Olympics official report. pp. 62-3.
• City of Lahti – Official website
• Lahti Guide – information for visitors to Lahti
• Lahti travel guide from Wikitravel
• Lahti travel
• Lahti video - documentary about city of Lahti

Maps

• Map Service
• Restaurant, accommodation, attraction and shopping map of Lahti

Media

• Etelä-Suomen Sanomat – local newspaper in Finnish (translates as South Finland News)

v t e Municipalities of Päijänne Tavastia Municipalities Asikkala Hartola Heinola Hollola Hämeenkoski Kärkölä Lahti Nastola Orimattila Padasjoki Sysmä Former municipalities Artjärvi Heinolan maalaiskunta Päijänne Tavastia Finland

v t e 50 most populous urban areas in the Nordic countries  Denmark  Finland  Iceland  Norway  Sweden 1.  Stockholm 1,372,565 2.  Copenhagen 1,199,224 3.  Helsinki 1,061,798 4.  Oslo 907,288 5.  Gothenburg 549,839 6.  Malmö 280,415 7.  Turku 253,332 8.  Aarhus 252,107 9.  Bergen 234,800 10.  Stavanger 221,616 11.  Tampere 215,337 12.  Reykjavik 195,000 13.  Odense 167,615 14.  Trondheim 160,072 15.  Oulu 144,114 16.  Uppsala 140,454 17.  Jyväskylä 132,115 18.  Fredrikstad 126,971 19.  Aalborg 124,921 20.  Västerås 110,877 21.  Örebro 107,038 22.  Linköping 104,232 23.  Lahti 102,383 24.  Drammen 100,023 25.  Kuopio 97,610 26.  Helsingborg 97,122 27.  Jönköping 89,396 28.  Kouvola 87,548 29.  Norrköping 87,247 30.  Skien 86,923 31.  Pori 83,156 32.  Lund 82,800 33.  Umeå 79,594 34.  Joensuu 73,807 35.  Lappeenranta 72,156 36.  Esbjerg 71,576 37.  Gävle 71,033 38.  Kristiansand 67,547 39.  Hämeenlinna 67,293 40.  Tromsø 66,669 41.  Borås 66,273 42.  Eskilstuna 64,679 43.  Södertälje 64,619 44.  Karlstad 61,685 45.  Täby 61,272 46.  Rovaniemi 60,699 47.  Randers 60,656 48.  Vaasa 60,491 49.  Seinäjoki 58,836 50.  Halmstad 58,577

v t e Olympic venues in football 1900: Vélodrome de Vincennes · 1904: Francis Field · 1908: White City Stadium · 1912: Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm Olympic Stadium (final), Traneberg · 1920: Jules Ottenstadion, Olympisch Stadion (final), Stade Joseph Marien, Stadion Broodstraat · 1924: Stade Bergeyre, Stade de Colombes (final), Stade de Paris, Stade Pershing · 1928: Monnikenhuize, Olympic Stadium (final), Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel · 1936: Hertha-BSC Field, Mommsenstadion, Olympic Stadium (final), Poststadion · 1948: Arsenal Stadium, Champion Hill, Craven Cottage, Cricklefield Stadium, Empire Stadium (medal matches), Green Pond Road, Griffin Park, Selhurst Park, White Hart Lane · 1952: Helsinki Football Grounds, Kotka, Lahti, Olympic Stadium (final), Tampere, Turku · 1956: Melbourne Cricket Ground (final), Olympic Park Stadium · 1960: Florence Communal Stadium, Grosseto Communal Stadium, L'Aquila Communal Stadium, Livorno Ardenza Stadium, Naples Saint Paul's Stadium, Pescara Adriatic Stadium, Stadio Flaminio (final) · 1964: Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, Mitsuzawa Football Field, Nagai Stadium, Tokyo National Stadium (final), Nishikyogoku Athletic Stadium, Ōmiya Football Field, Prince Chichiba Memorial Football Field · 1968: Estadio Azteca (final), Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Estadio Nou Camp, Jalisco Stadium · 1972: Drei Flüsse Stadion, ESV-Stadion, Jahnstadion, Olympiastadion (final), Rosenaustadion, Urban Stadium · 1976: Lansdowne Park, Olympic Stadium (final), Sherbrooke Stadium, Varsity Stadium · 1980: Dynama Stadium, Dynamo Central Stadium, Grand Arena, Grand Arena (final), Kirov Stadium, Republican Stadium · 1984: Harvard Stadium, Navy – Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Rose Bowl (final), Stanford Stadium · 1988: Buson Stadium, Daegu Stadium, Daejeon Stadium, Dongdaemun Stadium, Olympic Stadium (final) · 1992: Estadi de la Nova Creu Alta, Estadi del FC Barcelona (final), Estadio Luís Casanova, La Romareda, RCD Espanyol Stadium · 1996: Florida Citrus Bowl, Legion Field, Orange Bowl, RFK Memorial Stadium, Sanford Stadium (final) · 2000: Brisbane Cricket Ground, Bruce Stadium, Hindmarsh Stadium, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Olympic Stadium (men's final), Sydney Football Stadium (women's final) · 2004: Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Karaiskakis Stadium, Olympic Stadium (final), Pampeloponnisiako Stadium, Pankritio Stadium, Panthessaliko Stadium · 2008: Beijing National Stadium (final), Qinhuangdao Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Shanghai Stadium, Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Tianjin Olympic Center Stadium, Workers Stadium · 2012: City of Coventry Stadium, Hampden Park, Millennium Stadium, St James' Park, Wembley Stadium (final) · 2016: Estádio Nacional de Brasília, Arena Fonte Nova, Estádio do Maracanã, Mineirão, Estádio do Morumbi